Clothes Pins Decide Your Future

One of my shining mom moments was when 14 Going on 40 was seven and we were in line at the supermarket checkout. I was way pregnant with 7 Going on 17, hungry, tired, uncomfortable and seriously lacking any morsel of patience. The line wasn’t moving and to say I was about to pee my pants would’ve been an understatement.

Without thinking I uttered, “Fuck! This is taking forever!”

14 Going on 40 looks up at me wide eyed and I said, “That was my outside voice, wasn’t it?!” And she replied, “Yep, pull four tickets!”

At the time, she was a first grader and at school they had a behavior system tracked by tickets. You can guess that pulling one ticket wasn’t so bad, but FOUR? Head your ass on down to the Principals office pronto. Yikes!

We’re now enjoying ROUND 2 with 7 Going on 17 and instead of “tickets” they move a clip (little colored clothes pin) up and down their chart. She shared with me what each color means and it got me thinking…adults can use this system to monitor our behavior or “create a mind shift” when we’re stuck and in our own way.

GREEN : Ready to Learn

YELLOW : Stop and Think (I call this one, “take a breath”)

RED : Too much wine, stop now, fool (ok, I made this one up)

BLUE : Trying something new—getting creative

BLACK : Pity Party Guest of Honor (made this one up too)

Are you sporting the green clip most of the time or “back in black” and headed to the Principals office?

What would happen if we were more mindful of our mood and behavior?! What if we chose “stop and think” (took a breath) and then moved swiftly to “ready to learn” and “getting creative.” Wouldn’t our day look a whole lot different?! And, days add up to months and months to years.

Years add up quickly and this is your life. Whether a series of clips or choices, the state of mind or behaviors you choose is in direct correlation with the state of your life. Your outcome. Your happy. Your future.

One important thing I’ve learned is “your future is today!”
Just like a first grader, we choose how our day will go. We decide to be the guest of honor at a pity party and sabotage any successes or to show up and learn or play. Our fate isn’t up to the teacher (someone else).

It’s up to us to practice being present and choose happiness. Decide our future. Create our destiny.

Today, I’m sporting GREEN. What about you?

Stay sane, my friend.

P.S. Have any recommendations for what you’d like me to write about? Topics? Issues? Challenges? Lay it on me.